The Royal Oak in Leatherhead could be rebuilt after being wrongly demolished in November 2017.

After demolition work began, Mole Valley Council enforcement officers were sent to the site and could not persuade the contractor to stop.

They decided they could not serve a Temporary Stop Notice, despite a change in the law in May last year that requires planning permission for the demolition of pubs.

In January, a resident gave the council evidence an officer knew about the rule change – contrary to what officers had told the public.

The council held a scrutiny meeting on Wednesday, March 13, to discuss the lessons learnt from the mistakes.

Council chief executive Karen Brimacombe told councillors: “Most of all, I think we want to recognise that we didn’t get this right, we could have done better, and we are sincerely sorry.”

The council has instructed lawyers to give their opinion on whether producing a notice requiring the pub being rebuilt would be suitable.

Ms Brimacombe said a response is expected next week.